


The Sea, and Your Knee

by Lamia of the Dark (VisceraNight)



Category: Sweeney Todd (2007), Sweeney Todd - Sondheim/Wheeler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Old Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24872692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/Lamia%20of%20the%20Dark
Summary: Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett discuss their future, without being interrupted by Anthony.
Relationships: Nellie Lovett/Sweeney Todd
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. The Sea, and Your Knee

**Author's Note:**

> 2008!me writing an author's note on FFN: This is a serious fic, guys.
> 
> 2020!me, glancing back and forth between the a/n and the first chapter of the fic: If you're writing the dialogue as song verses instead of prose, how serious of a fic can it really be? Sure it's a musical fandom, but fanfic is a written format.

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

"We could have a life, us two. Maybe not like I dreamed. Maybe not like you remember. But we could get by..." she said.

He turned to face her.

"I have to take care of my business with the judge, you know that," he began.

" _I wasn't really listening,  
When you sang about the sea,  
I was brooding on my revenge,  
The very thing for which you'd just scolded me,  
I figured I should at least pretend to listen,  
And I placed my hand upon your knee_."

And before he could continue, she jumped in with:

" _Ooh, Mr. Todd, you are an infuriating man!  
At least one of us bothered to come up with a plan.  
What'd you expect to do once the bloody judge is gone?  
We can't just hang around here living in fear,  
Waiting for the realization to dawn!  
We'll have to leave, have to get gone,  
Have to pack up, move out, move on_."

He frowned.

" _I always thought you'd stay here,  
And continue to mind your shop,  
And when my business was done,  
I'd rejoin Anthony or go off on my own_."

To which she replied indignantly:

" _And who's been taking care of you all this time?  
Do you honestly think you could manage it alone?_"

He didn't answer immediately. She stepped closer to him.

"What would you do without me?" she aksed softly, laying her hands on his chest and leaning against him lightly.

A small eternity passed as he contemplated that situation, then his eyes fell shut and his arms closed around her.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

~to be continued~


	2. Sweeney's Decision

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

He was surprised to realize how small her body really was. Of course, he'd always known she was shorter than him, but she spent so much of her time slinging around corpses and other heavy objects (such as bags of flour) that when he thought of her physicality in terms of strength, she was obviously anything but frail.

But now, with her pressed against him this way, he could feel how tiny and fragile her body actually was. Despite the fact that she'd been eating better ever since the shop starting bringing in good money, she was still as thin in the waist as she had been on the day he'd first arrived in London as Sweeney Todd.

She'd asked him what he would do without her.

 _And_ , he thought to himself, _surely she must also be wondering what **she** would do without **me**_.

Because, as many times as he'd thrown her against the wall or into the chair and pressed the razor against her throat, he had always protected her from the threats of other men.

Mrs. Mooney's sons, especially, had taken it upon themselves to harass Mrs. Lovett at every chance they got. They'd never bothered with her before. It was hard to hold a grudge over the nasty rumors she'd spread about their mother's shop when her own shop was doing so poorly. But now that Mrs. Lovett's business was thriving, enough so to actually be considered competition to Mrs. Mooney's shop, the Mooney boys took deep offense to her continued rumor-mongering.

Sweeney sighed. Well, that was that settled, then. Once all was said and done, he couldn't just leave her here to fend for herself. Somehow in their time together, their futures had become inextricably twined.

~to be continued~


	3. Breathe In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... the second half of this chapter was originally taken up by song lyrics. I'm not going to copy them here. I don't know why I put that song in here when I wrote all the lyrics in the other chapters myself?? Like, what was the thought process there, I don't remember why my younger self thought that was a good idea.
> 
> (The song is "Breathe In" by The Loved Ones, if you're curious.)

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

As she heard him sigh, she couldn't help wondering what was going on in that mind of his. She knew it was ridiculous to hope that he would be dreaming of a future with her, and yet somehow that _was_ what she hoped he was doing.

She felt so safe and warm here in his arms like this, but if he was brooding about his bloody revenge again then she was likely to end up with her back against the wall and his "friend" at her throat any minute now...

She sighed and started to pull out of the embrace, but Sweeney kept his arms locked tightly around her and she was startled to find herself suddenly pressed quite firmly against his chest with little chance of escape. (Not that she was complaining.)

Her head snapped up in surprise and she saw that he was looking down at her, his eyes clear and alert.

She let out a shaky breath and allowed her body to relax against his once more. Or perhaps more so than before... As he felt the tension leave her body, he eased his grip so that the embrace was merely comfortably close instead of crushing.

Still looking into her eyes, smiling slightly, he began to sing...

~to be continued~


	4. Sweeney's Lullaby

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

It was later that night, after both of their shops had closed. They hadn't really settled anything that morning and he'd decided that it was time they had another talk about their plans, the future, the sea...

When he came down from the barbershop, he found her staring out the window apparently deep in thought. Funny, _he_ was usually the one doing that.

She didn't seem to notice he'd come into the room as she began to sing softly, to herself.

" _I'll catch your tears as they fall.  
In my hands I'll hold them all.  
Every one a drop of moonlight,  
Every one a shining star.  
Born only when you were sad,  
But look how beautiful they are.  
Each one a pretty pearl,  
Or diamond from your heart.  
Of course, your smile is prettier by far_."

He recognized that song. It was the lullaby he used to sing to Johanna. But coming from Mrs. Lovett, the song was different. It was not the sound of a parent hushing their crying child. It was the sound of someone mourning for a long-lost memory...

He joined her at the window and began to sing. A different song, a new song. Sweeney Todd's lullaby, not Benjamin Barker's.

" _The rubies fall into the night.  
I couldn't find them if I tried.  
They fall from my throat.  
I choke on them and throw up.  
The rubies fall.  
They are my blood.  
The rubies fall outside of me.  
They cannot be contained.  
Disaster races in their wake.  
I wait for it to fall.  
The rubies fall into the light.  
They rest on the bones.  
They shine on the ground before the grave.  
The rubies fall into the night.  
I couldn't find them if I tried_."

As he finished singing, he turned his head slightly so he could look at her.

She reached out and cupped his face in her hand, brushing her thumb over his cheek as if wiping away tears, but he had shed none.

Smiling softly, she sang the last lines of the old lullaby.

" _I'll catch each teardrop as it falls,  
And build you a castle of crystal walls_."

And then the tears came.

As he held her small body close against his for the second time that day, as he finally released fifteen years' worth of pent-up grief, he realized that he'd always thought of her as strong not because of her physical strength at all, but because she possessed incredible _emotional_ strength.

Well, she had to in order to be able to do the things she did for him...

~to be continued~


	5. The Safest Place

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

The next morning Sweeney woke up in his own bed with no recollection of how he'd gotten there. He supposed that must have been Mrs. Lovett's doing...

The door to the pie shop banged open and Toby jumped, startled.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. T," the boy said warily.

"Where's Mrs. Lovett?"

"She went out," Toby replied nervously.

"Where?"

"Shopping, I think."

Mrs. Lovett hadn't even gotten halfway to the market when she was cornered by Mrs. Mooney's sons. She was backed against a wall and seriously beginning to fear for her life when suddenly a voice rang out.

"What _are_ you boys doing? Nothing illegal, I should hope."

"Of course not, sir!" the older of the two brothers responded. "We was just... um..."

"Well, we'll be going now," the younger brother said quickly, grabbing his brother by the arm and hurrying him away from the scene.

Mrs. Lovett let out a sigh of relief and stepped away from the wall, only to find herself standing beside Judge Turpin who, apparently, had been her savior.

"Are you unharmed?" the judge asked softly, placing his hand at the small of her back and guiding her out of the alley that she'd been forced into by the Mooney boys.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm quite alright," she answered nervously. Inside she was panicking. This was the man who'd raped Lucy and had Johanna sent to Bedlam when they'd rejected him. And now he was flirting with _her_. She certainly hoped his interest in her was nothing more than a passing fancy.

"Mrs. Lovett!"

She looked up at the sound of her name being called. She had never been so glad to see Sweeney before in her life.

"Mr. Todd! What are you doing here?"

He'd witnessed the entire encounter but had been too far away to help. He hated that it had been that damn judge who had protected her, but from the looks of things she was in just as much danger from the judge himself as she'd been from the Mooney boys. He had to get her out of the judge's clutches, _now_.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going out?" Sweeney said. "Come now, let's hurry to the market. There's a few things I need for my shop as well."

Mrs. Lovett, glad for the excuse to get out of Turpin's company, quickly thanked the judge for his help and rushed to join Sweeney.

As they walked away down the crowded street, the judge did not see the barber take the baker's hand.

His voice a harsh hushed whisper, Sweeney scolded Mrs. Lovett as they walked:

" _Don't just walk into danger by yourself.  
You could have been raped, you could have DIED.  
Silly woman, haven't you figured out yet,  
That the safest place for you is by my side?_

 _Don't be reckless, don't go out alone.  
But you don't have to worry, you don't have to hide.  
As long as you stay in the safest place,  
Which, of course, is right here by my side_."

~to be continued~


	6. Judge on the Menu

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

In the following weeks it became apparent that Judge Turpin was, indeed, intent upon courting Mrs. Lovett.

Mrs. Lovett was horrified by the idea, of course. She's seen what happened to the women who rejected him...

But anytime she went out, she ran the risk of running into him. She couldn't play dumb forever. Even if she acted like she didn't recognize his flirting for what it was, Turpin was sure to eventually come out and state his intentions in a way she couldn't ignore or even pretend to misunderstand. So she simply avoided going out altogether. If she needed anything from the market, she sent Toby to get it for her.

The only chance the judge would have to see her would be to come by during business hours...

Sweeney watched from the balcony as Judge Turpin approached the pie shop. Beadle Bamford was not with him, which was unusual.

 _Of course he wouldn't want the Beadle with him if he was there for... personal reasons_ , Sweeney reasoned. And he began to sing under his breath.

" _So, the judge has decided to come 'round for a pie,  
In the hope that he might catch Mrs. Lovett's eye,  
But the blighter's in for a real surprise,  
Soon **he'll** be the one that's filling the pies_."

Hopefully Mrs. Lovett would would not be too disgusted by the judge's advances to do what Sweeney wanted. All she had to do was flirt with the man a little, then suggest that he might want a shave...

~to be continued~


	7. Rubies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is an extended version of "Rubies" from chapter 4.

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

Finally, finally, _finally_ the judge was in the barber's chair.

"Your neighbor is very beautiful," Turpin commented as Sweeney prepared him for the closest shave he would ever know.

"Beautiful, yes," Sweeney agreed in a monotone. Inside he was seething with anger.

"A woman like her is rare, indeed," the judge continued, oblivious to Sweeney's irritation with the subject matter.

"Rare, yes," Sweeney said distractedly as he sharpened his... little friend.

"If you had to guess, what would you say is her favorite jewel?"

It seemed that the judge was planning to profess his feelings with a gift of jewelery, perhaps even something so presumptuous as an engagement ring...

"Rubies," Sweeney answered with absolute certainty, and drew his razor across Turpin's throat.

Now that the judge was dead, Benjamin Barker could finally rest in peace.

Long into the night, Sweeney stood staring out of his window. He'd thought his life would lose all meaning and direction once his revenge was complete, but he found there were still quite a few things that he felt the need to do.

Get Mrs. Lovett the hell away from London to someplace where he wouldn't need to constantly worry about her safety, for one.

And without quite knowing why, he began to sing.

" _The rubies fall into the night.  
I couldn't find them if I tried.  
They fall from my throat.  
I choke on them and throw up.  
The rubies fall.  
They are my blood.  
The rubies fall outside of me.  
They cannot be contained.  
Disaster races in their wake.  
I wait for it to fall.  
The rubies fall into the light.  
They rest on the bones.  
They shine on the ground before the grave.  
The rubies fall into the night.  
I couldn't find them if I tried.  
The rubies fall.  
The darkness swallows them whole.  
The rubies fall outside of me.  
They stain the bones.  
The rubies fall into the night.  
I couldn't find them if I tried_."

He broke off abruptly as the bell over the door tinkled. He knew without turning that it was her. Who else would come into his shop at this time of night?

"I heard your voice, love, so I knew you were still up and I thought you might like a taste..."

He turned to face her and saw that she carried a plate in her hands and was offering him a pie.

With raised eyebrows, he asked, "Is that... what I think it is?"

"Said you'd come again when I had judge on the menu, didn't you?" she paraphrased, with an amused smile.

"I didn't mean I actually wanted to _eat_ it."

~to be continued~


	8. The Sea, Care and Worry Free

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

"So, what are we going to do now that he's gone?" she asked, setting the plate aside.

"We'll leave," Sweeney answered.

He took her into his arms and they danced around the shop as he sang.

" _Now, my dear, is the time  
For our wildest dreams  
We'll move to a town by the sea  
You can have that little house you wanted  
Invite the ladies over for tea  
I'll open up an honest shop  
The boy can work for me  
My dream, my revenge, finally came true  
Never could have done it without you  
It's your turn now  
I'll give you your dream of living by the sea  
And the rest of your days  
Will be care and worry free!_"

He concluded the song and gave her a brief hug before saying, "Pack your things tonight. We'll leave in the morning."

She packed her things (and Toby's as well) with an uneasy feeling in her heart. She thought over the things that Sweeney had promised her.

He didn't get it. He didn't get it all. What was the point of even going to the sea if the most important part of her dream _wasn't_ coming true?

~to be continued~


	9. Not Leaving London

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

The next morning, Sweeney stood waiting in the street. He'd hired a coach and he'd just sent Mrs. Lovett and Toby to fetch their luggage. It wasn't long before the two of them reappeared.

Mrs. Lovett strode over to Sweeney and thrust a small satchel into his hands.

"Right, there you are, that's Toby's things," she said in a businesslike manner.

"Where's yours?" Sweeney asked. He noticed she wasn't carrying anything else and neither was the boy.

"I'm not leaving London."

Sweeney thought he was hearing things. Surely she hadn't REALLY just said she wasn't leaving London.

"Not leaving London...?" he asked faintly, letting Toby's satchel fall to the ground. "I thought going to the sea was your dream."

"No." She shook her head. "That was only a part of my dream, a part I can do without."

"But," Sweeney protested weakly.

"Well, can't stand around here all day. I've got a shop to run and all that."

And she turned around and went back inside without listening to what Sweeney had to say. She would rather miss him from far away than when they were standing right next to each other. The pain of it would be easier to bear if he wasn't within reach.

~to be continued~


	10. The Sea, and Me

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

He _couldn't_ just leave her here by herself. What was she thinking? Did she have a death wish?

Mrs. Lovett didn't look up from the pie she was making as Sweeney entered the room. She expected him to scold, to threaten, to demand an explanation, to drag her forcefully from the room.

She did not expect him to come up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist and sing quietly in her ear.

" _What is it that's keeping you here?  
You're taking everything you love with you, my dear.  
Your best dresses and your jewelery are already packed.  
If you think you'd miss your rolling pin,  
Then go ahead and throw that on the stack.  
Or is it the building itself and the ghosts of the past,  
That keep you tied to this place?  
If that's the case, then I shall stay as well.  
Protect you and keep you company.  
The boy, too, it'll be us three,  
Almost like we was a real family.  
But just think what more there could be!  
You can have everything you ever wanted.  
An honest business, a wedding, a home.  
Maybe even a child of our own.  
You'll have the sea, and me_."

So he _did_ get it, after all. She turned in his arms and hugged him tightly. For once in her life, she was actually speechless.

He breathed a sigh of relief. If she'd needed that little convincing, she must not have really wanted to stay after all.

"Come on, let's get your things, then."

~to be concluded~


	11. Epilogue: One Year Later (Crystal Castle Reprise)

~ The Sea, and Your Knee ~

They were sitting on a blanket on the beach, not far from their seaside home. Sweeney was sitting quietly by his wife's side, staring blankly at the ocean. (Some habits can never be broken...)

Toby, who was experiencing his first crush, had just been rejected by the girl he was enamored with and he was now laying with his head in Mrs. Todd's lap, crying.

She stroked the boy's hair, idly noting the way the light hit the ruby of the ring she wore as she began to sing softly.

" _I'll catch your tears as they fall.  
In my hands I'll hold them all.  
Every one a drop of moonlight,  
Every one a shining star.  
Born only when you were sad,  
But look how beautiful they are.  
Each one a pretty pearl,  
Or diamond from your heart.  
Of course, your smile is prettier by far.  
I'll catch each teardrop as it falls,  
And build you a castle of crystal walls._"

Sweeney glanced over at her and smiled a little. In another half a year or so, they'd be singing that lullaby to their own child.

His gaze still fixed on the vast expanse of the ocean, he reached over and placed his hand on her knee.

~end~


End file.
